NL West

Now Commenting On:

Garcia to see specialist for wrist strain

Email

Print

Top Prospects: Garcia, WSH 0:54

2013 MLB.com Top Prospects: Garcia has a mid-90s fastball with a lot of sink, a biting breaking ball and even a sinking changeup

By Joey Nowak
/
MLB.com |

JUPITER, Fla. -- The plan remains for reliever Christian Garcia to see a specialist on Sunday for his right wrist/forearm strain, and manager Davey Johnson reaffirmed that there is "no possibility" Garcia will be in the Nationals' bullpen Opening Day.

Johnson is hoping still to stretch Garcia out to a starter's program, and with the time he's missed this spring, it seems entirely unlikely that Garcia would start the year in the big leagues.

"I am [planning to stretch him out], but we'll probably keep him here once he starts throwing and see where he's at," Johnson said.

So Garcia will see a specialist in Baltimore on Sunday, with hopes that he'll be cleared to throw thereafter. He hasn't even been playing catch for almost a month now, so it will be quite some time before the right-hander has a chance to join the Nats.

"He'll need to keep playing catch every day, and he's been out for over a month, so it's like starting all over," Johnson said. "He's a valuable commodity and we're just focused on a regular pace to get him ready."

Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.